Talking Points #4

Premise:
stereotypes
sex
race
class
children
cartoons
accepted knowledge
secret education
media
power
denial
ignorance
happiness
materialism
transformation
insecurities

Argument:
Christensen argues that society teaches people what is "normal" at a young age through cartoons and continue to influence people through television, schools, ads, etc.

Evidence:
1. " Our society's cutlure industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream." (126)

2."Industrially produced fiction has become one of the primary shapers of our emotions and our intellect...Although these stories are supposed to merely entertain us, the constantly give us a secret education. We are not only taught certain styles of violence, the latest fashions, and sex roles by TV, movies, magazines, and comic strips; we are also taught how to succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how to forget the past and suppress the future. We are taught, more than anything else, how not to rebel." (128)

3. Children's cartoons, movies, and literature are perhaps the most influentional genre "read." Young people, unprotected by any intellectual armor, hear or watch these stories again and again, often from the warmth of thei mother's or father's lap. The messages, or "secret education," linked with the security of their homes, underscore the power these texts deliver. As Tatum's researh suggests, the stereotypes and worldview embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge." (127)

4. Early in the unit, I show a Popeye cartoon, "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves," that depicts all Arabs with the same face, same turban, same body --and they are all thieves swinging enormous swords. (130)

5. The young, prett ones only want to hook their man; the old, prett ones are mean because they are losing their looks. ..People of color and poor people are either absent or servants to the rich, white, pretty people. .. Roles of men are limited as well. Men must be virtile and wield power or be old and the object of "good-natured" humor...Overweight people were portraed as buffoons in episode after epidode...The absesnce of mothers, the wicedness of stepparents. (130-1)

(I could go on forever.....)


Comments
After reading this piece, I feel SAD. =( Thinking about all my favorite childhood movies and cartoons as sexist, racist, and brainwashing makes me feel like I'm losing everything that was important to me. This feeling of sadness proves Christensen's point. Childhood movies and cartoons are so important to a child that it is still a part of them when they become an adult. When I was young, I always wanted to dress up like my favorite cartoon characters when I was playing dress up or when I was going out for Halloween. I remember being Jasmine one year and my stomach showed in the costume. At that young of an age, I thought that was the coolest thing possible (my mom didn't feel the same). Children get so many ideas and fantasies about what they want to be and what everyone else in society is like from these cartoons. Although I agree with Christensen, I wish I never read this because I'd rather stay "ignorant and happy."

ps. I thought it was interesting that their was a website with the student's comments.
Here's the link if anyone wants to look at it... www.rethinkingschools.org/rsr
The website has ways to improve on public schools and better teaching strategies. It should be useful for everyone in the classroom since we all want to work in education!